To: Thean who wrote (13618 ) 3/4/1998 5:01:00 PM From: Czechsinthemail Respond to
Report Says Low Prices To Reduce Oil From Non-OPEC Members In 1998 The report attributed the downward revisions largely to low oil prices, rather than setbacks in individual field developments that were the major source of lower-than-expected non-OPEC output in 1997. And if current oil prices remain weak, supply estimates may need to be lowered further, Kleinwort Benson said. Virtually all of the cutback is expected to occur in the onshore lower 48 states, which have the lowest level of well-head productivity in the world because of the maturity of many of the fields, the report said. In Canada, production of heavy crude fell by 60,000 b/d in January, compared with December's level. Heavy crude onshore output, which can have high operating costs in Canada, may fall further if oil prices remain near current levels, said Kleinwort Benson. In the North Sea, much of the expected 400,000 b/d increase in output in 1998 will depend on whether some 30 new field developments come on stream as scheduled. Many of the fields are small, but are needed to offset the decline in production from the more mature fields. New field development schedules could suffer substantially if oil prices stay around current levels for too long, the report said. including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Oman and Egypt, according to the report.
